I'm A Wizard, Not A Wonder
by AnomalousSlytherin
Summary: Phoebe Fletcher, a partially sighted eleven year old witch, begins her journey at Hogwarts, much to her muggle mother's dismay. Her father, Wilitrius 'William' Fletcher left quite the legacy, and her older brother is just beginning to do the same. How will Phoebe cope when faced with the challenges of the wizarding world - will she prove those who doubted her abilities wrong?


Chapter One

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Phoebe, happy birthday to you!"

The whole of Oxfordshire were quite possibly awoken by the deafening tones of the Fletcher parents serenading their daughter; it wouldn't be surprising if the roof of 16 Graftwood Court was levitating with the uproar, for that matter. Then again, Willitrias Fletcher (known by the muggle population as William), was exceedingly proud of his ability to cast Wingardium Leviosa with the greatest of subtleties. Thankfully, for the sake of his wife's mental state, he had not produced any sly magic that morning. Yet.

Emphatically, the operatic Soprano voice of Juliet Fletcher rang loud and clear through the vast house, bouncing off every wall in an audible vibration of symphony, and awakening their eleven year old daughter on the foggy morning of February 21st 1991.

"Good morning mother, father." Phoebe sat upright, her pastel pink bed sheets spread around her in a sea of fabric softener. "Thank you for my birthday wishes. Could you pass me my glasses, please?"

Juliet, smiling through her minuscule, well-moisturised lips, handed the black-rimmed spectacles to Phoebe. As she placed them upon her face, the room before her became slightly less abstract. It still wasn't perfect; she knew that, no matter how privileged and willing to pay extravagant amounts of money her family was, there was nothing more that could be done to correct her remaining sight. She could still make out writing if she tilted her head the right way and got close enough, and if objects were of great prominence she could recognise them almost instantly. Though Phoebe perceived the world through inconsistent clouds, varying degrees of blur, and very slight levels of ambiguity, she was happy to oblige; it wasn't as if she had ever experienced anything else.

"Did you sleep well, darling?" Her mother enquired, straightening out Phoebe's lopsided plait of dark blonde hair.

"Yes, mother." She responded politely. Her door opened again, producing a sweeping sound as it brushed over her fluffy cream carpet. Entering the room with a large shopping trolley full of gifts, Phoebe rolled her eyes and giggled.

"Phoebe, do try not to let your eyes do that, dear, you look like you're…not quite well, mentally." Juliet commented. Unbeknown to Phoebe, her father had just rolled his own eyes right behind her mother. In all honesty, she could've predicted it anyway.

"Let's open them, shall we? Here, darling, try this one from Daddy first." Juliet handed her daughter a large rectangular box, wrapped in paper the colour of tea stains that felt thick and rough to the touch. "I must say, William, you could've chosen a more feminine wrapping paper! Never mind. You needn't open it so carefully Phoebe, it's not as if it's any great work of art!" Phoebe was delicately running her finger beneath the folds to undo them. She slid the paper to her left and examined her gift. It was a doll.

"Oh, William, it looks like a troll!" Shrieked Juliet, appalled.

Holding the 'troll' right up to her glasses, Phoebe grinned.

"I love it! It looks like it's smirking at me. Look at her eyebrow, she's so inquisitorial! It's wonderful, father, thank you!" She threw her arms around William in delight, as Juliet stood looking disgusted by the right hand side of the bed.

"Hmm, yes, well. How about we open the most important gift of the lot? Try this one!" In wrapping paper that matched Phoebe's bed sheets, a longer gift was handed to her.

"This cost £674 to have designed, customised and imported all the way from Germany!" Juliet boasted, hoping that the neighbours could hear. "I hope you realise just how much I love you! I'm willing to break the bank for you!"

Phoebe unwrapped this gift with less precision and care. When she saw the gift, she was glad she had. It was an assistance cane, of which she had 12 already in her cupboard, embodied in pink diamantes with her name in equally glistening white jewels vertically up the cane. It was ghastly, garish and, most importantly, completely unnecessary.

"Isn't it gorgeous dear?" Juliet enthused, clapping her hands excitedly at the glinting stick. "As you know, you'll be off to Gloria's School for Extremely Gifted Girls later on this year and I know that you don't like using your other canes because they're such a dire sight, so I decided I would get you this beautiful little number." She caught sight of her daughter's face. "I completely understand that you think you don't need it right now, honey, but just in case."

Phoebe drew herself back up and feigned a smile. "Of course, mother, I'll use it if I feel I need to. But for now I'm alright. Thank you, though, you're right; it is always useful to have one just in case."

"Oh, my precious little girl! I must go and fetch the camera to show Ethan when he returns from…there. He'll see what he's missing!" And, with that, she scurried down the stairs to find her camera.

William sat himself down on her bed.

"Thank Merlin she's gone!" Whispered William. He thrust his wrapping paper into the hands of his daughter. "Quick, while you've got the chance, read this."

Phoebe, her hands trembling no more than an inch from her eyes as she read the wrapping paper, completely lost her 'world's most polite daughter' façade (that was only for her mother's benefit) and squealed with glee. "It's my Hogwarts letter! I can't believe it! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She engulfed her father in a hug and hid, what she now understood to be parchment, underneath her pillow.

Then realisation hit her like her first secret journey by floo.

"How are we going to tell mother?"


End file.
